After Jakku
by Angel of Death360
Summary: This story continues the adventures of Thane Kyrell, Ciena Ree, and other characters from Lost Stars by Claudia Gray. Comment and if the reviews are good I'll continue the story.
1. Chapter 1

5 ABY, the planet 5251977

Inside the room, it was dark and stuffy, compliments to the two dozen people stuffed into it. Among the New Republic soldiers in the room were, Mon Mothma, Admiral Ackbar, General Calrissian, and Thane Kyrell. A holographic image of a planet appeared above the table in the centre of the room, written above the image was 'Jelucan'. For a moment Thane's breath caught in his throat as he recognized his home world.

"This" said Mon Mothma "is Jelucan. A planet in the Outer Rim, it is still under Imperial control. The New Republic has seen fit to liberate it and give them the opportunity to join us."

Admiral Ackbar spoke next, "your job is to infiltrate the capital city of Valentia and destroy the stormtrooper garrison there, and to capture the Imperial governor, alive."

Next to speak was General Calrissian, he said "I'll lead a few squadrons to engage what Imperial defences remain, the squadron's I'll be leading are:"

Thane waited, listening to know if his squadron would be in space, or on the ground.

"Green Squadron," continued the general, "Gold Squadron, Red Squadron, and Wraith Squadron.

Thane let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in.

"The rest of you will infiltrate Valentia and do as Admiral Ackbar has ordered, once you've completed your mission you will signal us and we'll come and pick you up, as soon as we finished off the Imperial fighters."

As if on cue, everybody in the room left, many of them went to prepare their fighters, while Thane got combat ready, strapping on his blaster and some thermal detonators, just in case the stormtroopers decided to put up a fight. Which they will, Thane knew, he knew all about their refusal to surrender, from both his academy training and from seeing them firsthand when fighting with the Rebel Alliance and, now, the New Republic. _Ciena._ The thought came to him unbidden. Ciena Ree, the woman he'd known for over a decade, the woman he loved, the woman who was now in a New Republic prison cell, convicted of war crimes due to her involvement fighting against the rebels at Hoth, Endor, Jakku, among others. The last time he'd seen her he had promised to pull a few strings and get her freed and she had promised to go back to the Empire because of her stupid oath. She'd crashed her star destroyer on Jakku; she'd rather die than serve the Empire for another hour. The thought of what would have happened to Ciena had Thane not boarded the _Inflictor_ barely had time to register in his mind before a voice boomed throughout the entire base, saying "all soldiers to your ships. The liberation of Jelucan is underway". For a moment Thane just stood there, he was going back to Jelucan, his planet, his home. No, not his home, not really, his real home was wherever Ciena was. He made his way to the hangar, where he found a small transport vessel waiting for him and the rest of the ground troops. Among the ground team he spotted Yendor, his fellow pilot in Corona Squadron, along with Kendy Idele, his former classmate at the Royal Imperial Academy on Coruscant. Yendor was a blue-skinned Twi'lek and his lekku hung down his back, while Kendy was a fellow human with long, dark green hair. Yendor entered the transport as Kendy spotted him; she walked over and said "Ciena?" Thane merely said "the same." Kendy and Ciena had been roommates at the Academy, but Ciena didn't yet know that Kendy fought for the New Republic. Jude Edivon had also been her and Ciena's roommate, but Jude was dead. She had been aboard the first Death Star when it was destroyed by Luke Skywalker over Yavin IV. Sometimes, Thane still mourned for Jude, but she had died five years ago, and there was no point focusing on the past when a planet had to be liberated now. Not just any planet. Thane and Ciena's home planet.

General Dax Rennard stood at the door to the transport, he saw Kendy and Thane standing there and said to them "are you guys coming or what, we've got a planet to free"


	2. Chapter 2

The transport shuttle carrying the New Republic soldiers touched down on a mountain on Jelucan around about 1300 hours. The door on the shuttle opened, and close to fifty soldiers emerged, among them, Thane Kyrell, Kendy Idele, and Yendor. Dax Rennard, the New Republic general in charge of the ground assault, said in a loud booming voice so all the troops could hear, "Valentia is a mile east, we're going to show those Imperials what the New Republic is made of". That was followed by cheers from the soldiers, and then they all moved out, ready to liberate the planet. Thane, Kendy, and Yendor stayed close to each other, seeing as how they were in the same squadron.

"What's it like?" asked Yendor, the question directed toward Thane, "to come home after all this time away".

"It's only been five years. But still, the sky looks to be permanently gray, and the scarring of the surface was visible as we descended. Those damned Imperials destroyed my planet, now; I'm going to make them pay" Yendor and Kendy stayed silent, they both heard the anger in his voice, and yet only Kendy knew it wasn't all because of what the Empire had done to Jelucan. She knew it was because his father was so close. The same man who had emotionally and physically abused Thane during his childhood and teenage years. Kendy also knew that, although his mother had never laid a hand on him, she didn't stop the beatings either, and that was just as bad as actually laying hands on him. After nearly half an hour, they came within range of Valentia. The city had been carved into a mountainside; it wasn't as big or glorious as most other cities in the galaxy, but it were still unique. From the mountain they were standing on, they could see all the citizens walking among the city, all wearing the same rags of the same colour, and there were thousands of tents set up. Thane remembered his childhood, his family and the other second-wavers had all worn rich colours and luxurious silks, while the valley folk had worn brown rags. During his previous visit to Valentia, thane had noticed how everybody, even the second-wavers had been wearing rags, now it seemed, nothing had changed. The Imperial garrison could also be seen from their viewpoint, the entire building was protected by an energy shield, and the shimmering of the field was barely visible in the sunlight. Around the garrison, a dozen storm troopers stood guard. Thane estimated there were another two dozen inside.

"Okay troops, move in on my mark" said General Rennard. He started to count down from three, and then a ridgecrawler appeared outside the garrison, carrying a man in a gray Imperial uniform.

"That's Zyglis Havoli, he's the Imperial governor here" said Thane. He couldn't believe their luck, now all they had to do was hit the garrison, instead of the garrison and then the governor's residence, which might've gotten warning of the attack and sealed their defences. All their targets in one place.

"Indeed it is Lieutenant Kyrell," said the general, "okay, new plan. Thane, you take a dozen troops and switch off the energy field around the garrison, I'll lead the rest of the soldiers against the stormtroopers on guard, and then we'll regroup in the governor's office. Thane nodded, gathered his dozen soldiers, including Yendor and Kendy, and snuck down the ridge and to the garrison without being seen.

"They must have some kind of power source around here somewhere" sad Yendor, as they heard the rest of the New Republic soldiers open fire on the stormtroopers.

"Here it is, sir" said one of the soldiers, a man named Viktor, who located a small metal box which, when opened, showed a confusing tangle of wires.

"It's not too different from the type of shield technology on our x-wings" said Kendy, to which Thane had to agree. He pulled some clippers from a pouch on his belt and tried to work through the noise of blasterfire. From around the corner of the garrison came five stormtroopers, all of whom raised their blasters to fire at Thane's group, before they were shot down in turn.

"I don't mean to pressure you Kyrell," came Rennard's voice from Thane's comlink, "but we really need those shield's on the garrison down."

"I'm working on it" said Thane. After a few more seconds of rewiring, Thane heard the distinctive whirr of the shield shutting down.

"Alright troops, into the garrison" said Thane.

Thane led them to the front of the garrison, where nearly a dozen stormtroopers lay dead, and the New Republic strike team had blown open the door. As they went inside the garrison, Thane saw more bodies, some of them New Republic troops but mostly Imperials. Ahead, the door to what looked like an office was open; Thane led the group in there and found General Rennard standing over governor Havoli, who was on his knees, with his hands behind his head, along with dozens of stormtroopers. As Rennard saw Thane, he smiled and said "mission accomplished."

Two days later, the New Republic had run off what few Imperials remained on Jelucan. Thane stood in the city square where a podium had been set up. On the podium stood Princess Leia Organa and thousands of Jelucani had gathered to see what she had to say. On the podium with her were Thane, General Rennard, and a valley-dweller, a woman named Jessika Guthuris.  
"People of Valentia, and Jelucan" said the princess. In front of the podium were two dozen camera-droids, their footage was being broadcast all over the planet. "You have been freed from the tyrannical oppressor known as the Galactic Empire". That sent up cheers and a few grumbles of anger. Jelucan had once resisted the Republic; during the Clone wars they joined the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Many Jelucani that Thane knew would much rather stay loyal to the Empire, among them his parents, and Ciena's father, Paron Ree, who was one of the people assembled here today, Thane could see him in the crowd. Thane wondered if he knew his daughter was in a prison cell, the most likely answer was no.

"You have a choice" continued Leia, "you can remain independent, or you can join the might of the New Republic. You can elect your own representatives, and you will be treated fairly and justly" More cheers went up. "We have provided voting booths, all over the planet, you can now vote. Independence or justice. Separation or protection. Should you choose to join the New Republic, you will be given full benefits, such as protection by the New Republic military, and the chance to be represented in the Senate."

After the princess' speech, the voting began, and a day later, the results came in. Jelucan had chosen to join the New Republic with a vote of 96 percent for and 4 percent against. They had also voted Jessika Guthuris in as their first Senator.

After that a lot of hand-shaking went on, between the princess and Jessika, between Thane and Jessika, between Thane and General Rennard. On some level, Thane was proud that his people had decided to join the Republic that meant he would also be able to vote who would represent him on the Senate. Before now, he had never thought democracy could feel so good.

After the voting and everything else was over, Thane sought out Ciena's father, Paron. He went to his small house in the valley, and when he knocked on the door Paron opened in seconds. Without a word Paron gestured for Thane to enter, and then closed the door when he was in. Thane had half expected to see Ciena's mother, Verine. She had been falsely accused of embezzlement by the Imperial governor and sentenced to six years labor in the mines. Now that Jelucan was part of teh New Republic, she should have been freed. As if reading his mind, Paron said "If you want to know where my wife is all you need to do is ask". Thane didn't want to, and against his better judgement asked him just that.

"She's dead. She was worked to death in the mines. Her frail body couldn't keep up." It wasn't until now that Thane noticed the blue ribbon tied around Paron's arm, it was a mourning ritual among the valley-dwellers, the same ritual Thane had participated in for over a year when he thought Ciena had died during the Battle of Endor.

Thane felt like he'd been gut punched. Ciena's mother was dead, and now Thane had the begrudging task of informing Ciena of her death.

"Sir, I came by to inform you that Ciena is a prisoner of the New Republic, accused of war crimes".

Paron just nodded, and said "an oath is sacred. You turned your back on the Empire and became a terrorist. I said nothing when you came for Verine's trial, because nobody else stood vigil for us, except you. I know about you and Ciena, you love her, and I suspect she loves you back. The New Republic is seen as a shining beacon of hope in this dark galaxy, but how long until it grows corrupt and useless. I was alive during the Clone Wars, I saw the Old Republic's corruption, and the Jedi rebellion put an end to that. If you are truly the man Ciena loves, you will do anything you can to free her, promise me".

Thane stayed quiet for a moment, and then he said "I promise".


End file.
